Racing School: Mount Tabor Series #4

Placed much higher in the rankings this week. Someone I have a conflicted relationship pointed out to me that it wasn’t worth picking up primes if I was finishing off the back. The gist of his point was that while I was picking up primes I wasn’t learning shit about racing my bike (which matters more than fitness) if I was finishing off the back. My growth as an athlete, and therefore as a person would be progressed further if I was fighting to finish in the pack. With that in mind I decided to sit out the prime sprints and just try to finish with the pack. That plan worked and I finished just at the tail end of the lead pack

The I picked off somewhere between five and eight people on the final ascent to the line. As my teammate Alex pointed out. Those would have been the first ten people if I had positioned myself better. Point taken. It’s clear that I’m not fully utilizing my strength. I’ve proven over the last few weeks that I’m capable of sticking it to the guys who are finishing up front. I just have wait, and fight for position near the front. A better spot to launch an attack from.

It’s about more than that though.

I was feeling pretty good about my finish, when Alex (who races Cat 3) pointed out the insight I shared above. I also noticed that the guys who are finishing up front could give a shit about talking to me afterwords. Why should they? I haven’t proven to them that I’m someone worth talking too, let alone working with in a race. Putting you stamp on the race is about gaining that respect. All of your training doesn’t mean shit if you aren’t using it, and I haven’t been using it.